Shoe cleaner



March 31, 1964 A. G. MILLER SHOE CLEANER Filed May 25, 1962 ma 4 @MW 5y#@W/ TTRNEYS.

United States Patent O 3,126,565 SHOE CLEANER Albert George Miller, 25E. Cedar St., Chicago, Ill. Filed May 23, 1962, Ser. No. 197,007 6Claims. (Cl. 15--210) .T his invention relates to shoe cleaners and moreparticularly to a wiper for conveniently wiping dust and dirt fromshoes.

Shoe cleaners of various types have heretofore been proposed, but havegenerally been Scrapers or coarse brushes 4for use out of doors. Neithercleane-rs of this type nor the usual door mat completely remove dust andsimilar tine dirt from shoes with lthe result that the floors orcarpeting in a house are tracked.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a shoecleaner which effectively removes dust and similar line dirt particlesfrom the soles of shoes to eliminate tracking.

Another object is to provide a shoe cleaner which can be used indoorsand can easily be folded to a useable position or to a collapsed flatposition for storage.

According to a feature of the invention, the cleaning surface is formedby a sponge pad, preferably treated to absorb dust, supported on amounting plate. The plate is connected to a frame for movement lfrom avertical stored position adjacent to the Iframe to an extended useableposition at an acute angle to vertical.

According to another feature of the invention, the wiper pad is swung toa slightly over-center position when stored to be self-latching and theparts are so arranged that the wiper pad may easily be moved between itsstored and use positions by pressure of the foot of a user against it.

'Ihe above and other objects and features of the invention will be morereadily apparent from the following description when read in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe cleaner embodying the inventionin the stored position;

FIG. 2 is a similar perspective view in the use position;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section through the shoe cleaner;

EFIG. 4 -is a front elevation;

iFiG. S is a rear elevation; `and FIG. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 ofFIG. 5.

T-he shoe cleaner, as shown, comprises a vertically elongated framehaving parallel side members 10 joined by a top cross member 11 to forman inverted U-shaped lframe. While a frame, as shown, is desirable for aportable unit, it will be understood that the frame could be formed byside members permanently attached to a building structure whereportability is not desired. The frame structure supports a wiper padformed of a mounting plate 12, preferably made of sheet metal, withdownwardly turned side flanges 13` which may be integral with the plateor which may be separate L-section strips secured to the plate, asshown. Each of the side flanges 13 is formed with :an elongated slot 14therein and a transverse pin or rod 15 extends through both of the slotsand is secured to the opposite side members 10, as best seen in FIGS.and 6. The pin 1S is slidable in the slots and the mounting plate forthe pad may also pivot about the pin in movement of the pad from itsstored to its use position, as `described more fully hereinafter.

At its lower end, the mounting plate 12 is pivotally connected to arms16- which are pivoted at their lower ends to the side -frame membersthrough rivets, or the like, indicated at 17. As shown, the levers 16are rigidly connected in a U-shaped structure by a cross piece 18 whichis pivotally connected to the lower part of the mounting plate 12through clips `19 secured to the mount- 3,126,565 Patented Mar. 31, 19642 g1g plate yand at least partially encircling the cross memf er 18.

.The wiper pad is completed by a sponge pad -21 which is preferablyformed of treated synthetic sponge material to be highly absorptive todust and tine particles. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 6, the pad 21 ismade up of two layers of sponge material with fastening wires or strips22 between them. T he ends of the fastening wires or strip projectthrough the innermost sponge layer and through openings in the mountingplate 12 and are crimped over, as shown, to secure the sponge pad to themounting plate to make -up the wiper pad. With this construction, when asponge pad becomes worn or excessively soiled, it may easily `be removedand replaced by a new pad. At the same time, the entire outer surface ofthe pad is of sponge material so ythat shoes may be wiped over itwithout interference with any mounting parts.

In use of the unit, the wiper pad may be tilted to a substantiallyvertical position between the side frame members 10 for storage, asillustrated in FIGS. l, 3, 4 and 5. In this position, the arms 16 areswung upwardly between the side :frame members 10 and the pivotalconnections are so positioned that the upper end of the wiper pad willswing out slightly yto an over-center position where the wiper pad willbe retained by gravity. When it is desired to use the shoe cleaner, theupper end of the wiper pad may be pressed inwardly by the foot of theuser causing the arms 16 to swing outwardly away from the frame with theslots 14 in the side anges 13 sliding downward and pivoting over thecross pin 1S. At the end of this movement, the wiper pad will bepositioned, as shown in FIG. 2, at an acute angle `to both vertical andhorizontal and projecting outwardly from the frame. In this position,the user may conveniently Wipe the `soles of his shoes over the pad toremove dust and fine dirt particles therefrom which will be collectedand absorbed by the sponge pad. Upon completion after ruse the user maysimply press his foot against the lower forward part of the wiper pad topress it inwardly back to the stored position shown in FIG. l.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and `describedherein, it will be understood that it is illustrative only `and not -tobe taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference beinghad for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A shoe cleaner comprising a vertically elongated frame, a generallyrectangular Wiper pad, link means pivotally connecting the lower end ofthe wiper pad to the frame at the lower end thereof, and guide meansconnecting the upper end of the wiper pad to the frame above the linkmeans, the link means and the guide means guiding the wiper pad formovement from a generally vertical position adjacent to the `frame to aposition extending downwardly and outwardly from the frame at an `acuteangle to vertical, the wiper pad in its generally vertical positionswinging slightly beyond vertical to move the link means to anover-center self-latching position.

2. A shoe cleaner comprising a vertically elongated frame, a general-lyrectangular wiper pad, link means pivotally connecting the lower end ofthe wiper pad to the frame at the lower end thereof, and a slidable andpivotal pin and slot connection between the lframe and the wiper padabove the link means cooperating with the link means to guide the wiperlpad for movement from a vertical position adjacent to the frame to aposition extending downwardly and outwardly from the iframe at an acuteangle to vertical.

3. A shoe cleaner comprising a vertically elongated frame, a generallyrectangular wiper pad, link means pivotally connecting the lower end ofthe wiper pad to the `frame at the lower end thereof, the wiper padhaving side flanges thereon formed with elongated guide slots therein,and a guide pin carried by the frame tting slidably and rotatably in theslots to guide the wiper plate from a generally vertical positionadjacent to the frame to a position extending outwardly and downwardlyfrom the frame at an acute angle.

4. The shoe wiper of claim 3 in which the upper end of the wiper platetilts outwardly slightly from the frame when the wiper plate is in itsgenerally vertical position to produce an over-center self-latchingcondition with the link means.

5. The shoe wiper of claim 4 in which the wiper pad is formed of a sheetmetal plate having a sponge pad secured thereto.

6. A shoe cleaner comprising a U-shaped frame having upright spacedparallel legs, a U-shaped link member pivoted at the ends of its legs tothe legs of the frame at the lower ends thereof, a generally rectangularwiper pad pivotally' connected at its lower end to the base of theU-shaped link member, the wiper pad including a sheet metal plate withanges at its sides formed with elongated guide slots and a sponge padsecured to the plate, and a pin carried by the ylegs of the framefitting slidably and lrotatably in the slots to guide the wiper pad froma generally vertical position adjacent to the legs of the frame to aposition extending downwardly and outwardly at an acute angle from thelegs of the frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS649,335 Moore et al. May 8, 1900 1,474,257 Harrison et a-l. Nov. 13,1923 2,707,585 Hoey May 3, 1955

1. A SHOE CLEANER COMPRISING A VERTICALLY ELONGATED FRAME, A GENERALLYRECTANGULAR WIPER PAD, LINK MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE LOWER END OFTHE WIPER PAD TO THE FRAME AT THE LOWER END THEREOF, AND GUIDE MEANSCONNECTING THE UPPER END OF THE WIPER PAD TO THE FRAME ABOVE THE LINKMEANS, THE LINK MEANS AND THE GUIDE MEANS GUIDING THE WIPER PAD FORMOVEMENT FROM A GENERALLY VERTICAL POSITION ADJACENT TO THE FRAME TO APOSITION EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY FROM THE FRAME AT AN ACUTEANGLE TO VERTICAL, THE WIPER PAD IN ITS GENERALLY VERTICAL POSITIONSWINGING SLIGHTLY BEYOND VERTICAL TO MOVE THE LINK MEANS TO ANOVER-CENTER SELF-LATCHING POSITION.